Millennials everywhere are gearing up for their first time voting in a commander in chief. We're lost, we're uninformed, we don't know what we believe, and we haven't seen how policies really affect the country. Amidst a barrage of almost dirty politics, strong opinions, and thought provoking questions about how our government is being run, young voters face numerous dilemmas.

As a younger voter coming into such a heated election I feel obligated to become informed and make a decision based in what is important to me. While searching for the candidate I agree with most I came across a meme accusing Bernie Sanders of being a draft dodger.

Snopes.com has already done a great job of accessing the validity of the claim so my concern with the memes accusation is how it might affect the opinions of voters my age. I asked several people for their honest opinions after viewing the image. Interestingly I received answers at both ends of the spectrum from an outright "we just don't want Bernie" from a Micheal Jones age 20, to an "I still feel the Bern!" from Kristens Hoskins, a sophomore and Indiana State University.

The importance here lies in how on earth these two came to these decisions. I, for one, can honestly say I don't want to go to war. I'm not sure how to feel about war in general but then again, I'm not sure how I feel about taxes, abortion, or even marriage. At a young age we are expected to take a stance on every issue and to make "adult" decisions but isn't that what Bernie Sanders did? He chose to go to college, at age 20 chose to be a pacifist, and applied to be a conscientious objector for the war in Vietnam, in accordance with those choices. According to Isaac Sims, a freshman at the University of Southern Indiana, accused "draft dodging shouldn't be something that sways the opinion" in the matter of selecting the next commander in chief. Our responsibility as voters is to objectively access the information thrown at us and to sift through the haystack in an effort to find the needle that might be capable of leading this country.

On top of a never ending supply of memes which constitute dirty politics young voters are also getting ridiculously strong opinions from every direction. According to the Washington Times, "democrats fear Bernies' supporters won't back Hilary Clinton if she wins nomination" and rightfully so. Recently, a petition has begun circulating entitled Bernie or Bust which asks voters to pledge to write Sanders in on the ballot should Clinton receive the Democratic parties backing. Some voters have even taken a left turn through humorously indulging their fear of Trump winning. In a comedic article about where one might escape to if Trump should be victorious in the coming election, which was shared 232 thousand times on Facebook alone, Hannah VanBrunt writes "Many have joked about fleeing the United States if Donald Trump becomes president, but the prospect grows more and more appealing with each day. We wouldn't only be running to escape Trump's haircut and horrible attitude toward women, immigrants, Muslims and just about everyone else. We'd be running to escape an objectively terrible leader." This big bias is even coming from a fellow college student. With extremely varied opinions coming at young voters from all angles it is important that we do our best to make informed decisions about the coming election while remaining objective to all the jargon coming our way.

Aside from all the dirty politics and strong opinions young voters must also consider how pivotal this election is and the many questions it has raised about how our government is run. This is an election of firsts as regardless of which contender moves into the white house they will be the eldest president the country has ever seen. If Clinton is selected she will also constitute the first female commander in chief while Sanders would represent our nations first Jewish President. Although these facts may influence votes we also need to acknowledge some serious questions brought about by this election. Should our president have prior political experience? Since there is an age minimum should there also be an age maximum? After all, the white has does do a number on a persons health. Should a candidate be allowed to run if they have a pending FBI investigation against them? Why do we still have political parties anyway anymore? Should super delegates even exist? Should each state run its primary election at least similarly? With the technology of today, why do we not elect on a one man one vote premise? The list goes on and on.

While sifting through more misinformation than they can deal with younger voters are now facing dilemmas involving bombardment of dirty politics, radical opinions, and disconcerting questions about how our government is run. We must make informed decisions now and the most important of which is whether or not to even vote. The pivotal nature of this election and my bias says that everyone who can, should cast an informed vote. Here are some simple steps one could follow to help them find a candidate who they feel comfortable voting into office. First, decide which issues facing the country today are most important to you. Then research how each candidate plans to address these issues during their proposed term. Lastly, choose which candidate you agree with most while considering the repercussions of their prescribed plan of action. So please, before hitting the poles to cast your vote for the person who single-handedly can influence this nation the most, do some research and be informed about who you choose to elect.